A network system includes a number of computer systems and local networks connected in such a manner to allow communication between them. The Internet, which includes the so-called World Wide Web, is an example of a global network system. A computer system coupled to the Internet (e.g., via a dial-up connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP)) may communicate with any of the computer systems coupled in the Internet system. In other words, data, such as a request for information, may be directed to a particular computer system on the Internet.
Because of the number of computer systems in the network, a system is present to properly route data communicated by one computer system to another. This is assisted in the Internet system with a plurality of Domain Name Servers. These servers communicate directly with a subset of the servers that are coupled in the Internet system. When a first computer seeks to send data intended for a second computer, a request is made to a first Domain Name Server to find the address of the second computer system on the Internet. As is known in the Internet art, the second computer system is identified by a unique site name such as something having the form “abrainc.com.” The first Domain Name Server that receives the request from the first computer system checks its stored site name information to see if there is an exact match for the “abrainc.com” character stream. If there is not a match, the first DNS sends a responsive message back to the first computer system. If there is a match, the first DNS forwards the request to another DNS where a similar comparison between the “abrainc.com” string and those strings stored at the DNS. If there is a match at this DNS, associated with the match is a detailed Internet address (typically a string of numbers and periods) that is sent back to the first computer system. After the Internet address is supplied to the first computer system, the first computer system then sends its data, request, etc. to the second computer. Through this system, data, requests, etc. are forwarded between nodes in the Internet until it reaches its destination.
In actuality, each unique Internet site name has associated with it a numerical Internet address. The DNS system is a hierarchical system. There are a small number of root DNSs which are responsible for tracking the top level domains such as .com, .net, .edu, etc. These servers are instrumental in identifying valid site names. The system for locating properly addressed computer systems is a very robust system. The goal of the system is to forward requests to server systems that are more knowledgeable about the appropriate location of the DNS. The information that is stored in the DNSs is repeatedly updated so that future requests to a particular site name can be properly handled.
One problem associated with this system is in how it handles similar site names (i.e., site names that have a similar number of characters or have character strings that are in common). In the art, similar site names are handled in exactly the same manner as for every other site name. In other words, though similar site names may be directed to the same computer system, the DNS system must be updated for each and every site name to the computer system. This leads to inefficiency, in that it takes some time for the DNS system to be updated with the correct information so that newly created site names can be quickly located for communication.